• Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Delhi court extends former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s CBI custody

Delhi’s former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia (ANI Photo)

By: Shubham Ghosh

A court in New Delhi on Saturday (4) ruled that Manish Sisodia, former chief minister of Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, will remain in the custody of the elite investigative agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for at least a couple of days.

Sisodia, 51, faces charges of corruption related to a now-scrapped liquor sales policy and was arrested by the CBI on February 26. He resigned from the Delhi cabinet two days later. The AAP leader had applied for bail and his request would be considered on March 10.

Special judge MK Nagpal, who extended Sisodia’s custody, asked the CBI to produce him before the court on Monday (6).

The agency had sought three more days of Sisodia’s custody after producing him before the court at the end of his three-day remand which was granted previously.

Sisodia said in his bail request that keeping him in custody will “serve no fruitful purpose” as all the recoveries related to the case have already been done.

His legal representative said the “inefficiency of the agency” to conclude the probe cannot be the ground for remand and he could not be asked to incriminate himself, an NDTV report said.

The former Delhi deputy chief minister also told the court that while the CBI was treating him well in its custody, repeated questions were causing him mental harassment. The court then directed the CBI to avoid asking him the same questions.

Sisodia had challenged the CBI’s move in the Supreme Court of India a day after his arrest but the apex court asked him to go to a lower court first. He then withdrew his application and decided to go to a trial court.

Security was beefed up at the time of the hearing as AAP supporters have been protesting Sisodia’s arrest and accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of prime minister Narendra Modi of conspiring against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal saying it was afraid of his growing popularity.

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